Babies
by morningsong101
Summary: After seeing her mom help the baby dinosaur, Zoe has a few questions. It just so happens that her daddy is there to answer them for her.


**Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Terra Nova, and neither do you.**

**Set sometime after Bylaw.**

After all the drama with Curran lately, what Jim Shannon decided he needed was a day out with his little girl. A chance to relax and see what his daughter was up to lately.

They'd started by going out to breakfast. Ruby's Cafe had amazing muffins, and just like he predicted, Zoe loved them.

"Daddy," Zoe said after swallowing an alarming size mouthful. "what are you drinking?"

"Coffee, sweetheart." Jim answered.

"Can I try some?" Zoe asked with a sweet smile.

_Oh, she knows what it is. Trying to get to the good stuff._ Jim thought, amused. But he had seen her with coffee in her system-not a good idea to give a five year old coffee. _Never_ a good idea to give a five year old Shannon coffee. He wasn't quite sure anyone had really recovered from Zoe's last stint with caffeine.

"No, this is grown up stuff. Why don't you drink your juice instead?" Jim suggested.

"I don't really want juice, I want to to have some coffee." Zoe insisted.

Jim shook his head. "Really? Then can I have a sip?" he asked, reaching for it.

Zoe giggled and snatched her cup of apple juice. "Never mind! I want my juice." For some reason, she was obsessed with apples. Apple juice, apple pie, apple cake. If it had apples, she was there.

They continued to the market, where he proceeded to buy her a necklace of sea shells.

And since it was so nice out, they stopped by the playground so she could show Leah and Sam her new trinket (was he being paranoid, or was Sam unusually smiley around his little girl?). He and their guardian, Shelly, chatted for a few minutes, taking great care to avoid discussing recent events. Here, with the next generation running about so innocently, the dark subject had no place.

Jim was reveling in the feeling of being a father. He hadn't been able to take Maddy or Josh to a playground like this, the air and crime around them had gotten so bad. One of these days, they were going to spend a day as a family. Maybe have a picnic or something.

They stopped by one of the food stands and chose Carno Ribs (not actually Carno, the man explained. People just liked to imagine they were eating Carno.) before finding a seat on a bench.

"Daddy?" said Zoe.

"Yeah, sweetie?" he asked. He had no coffee, just a water, so she obviously wasn't targeting his food.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"You just did." he teased.

She smiled and shook her head. "Can I ask you something else?"

"You just did."

"Daddy!" she huffed. "I'm serious."

"I thought you were Zoe?"

"Daddy, please. I want to ask you something serious." she said after she had finished giggling.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop. What's up?" he said. Whatever question she threw at him, he could take it.

"Well, you know how Mommy helped the baby dinosaur?" she said. Jim nodded. "I've been wondering, um, where do babies come from?"

Jim chocked. He coughed and downed his water.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.

Jim nodded. "Uh...yeah. Why do you want to know, kiddo?"

"Well, baby dinosaurs are in eggs, but I don't know how they get there. And baby people are in the tummies of their mommy's, but I don't know how they get there, either. I asked Maddy, she said they come from special hugs, but I don't really know what that means. What's a special hug?" Zoe asked, her confusion becoming clearer.

Oh, god. No. Just no.

When he thought he could handle any question, he didn't even consider this. This wasn't his job. Zoe was a girl. Elizabeth handled explaining this to the girls, he'd done his fair share with Josh (one of the worst, most awkward conversations he'd ever had with his son).

But Elisabeth was nowhere in sight. He was alone in this.

But, good grief, he didn't want to explain anything about the S-word with her.

"Uh, special hugs. Special hugs..." he said, exhaling a large gasp of air. He looked around, trying to find something to help him explain this and keep it as G-rated as possible.

A flying figure in the sky caught his eye. Just barely, he could make out a big, round lump in it's talons-claws-whatever the heck these non-birds had. Something in his mind clicked.

"Okay, special hugs. When you love someone a lot, like Mommy and I love each other-"

"Like Maddy and Mark love each other?"

"No, definitely not. Now, when two people like Mommy and I love each other, they hug. While doing this, they think about how happy the other makes them and wish for a baby, because they want to share their happiness and have a family. You keeping up with me so far?" he asked.

Zoe's head was tilted to the side and she had a concentrated look on her face. She gave a slow nod.

"Okay. When they wish for a family, a Pterosaur brings it to them. You know what a Pterosaur is, right? A bird dinosaur?" he asked. Zoe nodded. "Dinosaur babies are brought in eggs because they're always sleeping. People babies are given to their mom's. These mom's have gained a little weight so that the baby is comfortable when the mom holds it. Any questions?" he said, holding his breath and silently praying there was no questions on the five year old's mind.

"I don't think so, but if I have any, can I come ask you?" she asked.

Please, no. "Sure, but you might want to ask your mom. She knows more about this than I do."

Zoe finished her Carno Rib and occasionally looked up at the sky thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Daddy. What's next?" she asked.

Next? Something so innocent and relaxing that he would forget this conversation ever happened.

They went home and took a nap.

##

**I had an idea and ran with it. Let me just say, I've really missed writing JimxZoe. Hopefully, ya'll liked it and I would really appreciate a review!**


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